Title: Grains of the Golden Sand
Author: alliterator
Summary: "All that we see or seem/Is but a dream within a dream." E. A. Poe, "Dream
Within A Dream". Post-Grave, Restless-style.
Spoilers: Spoilers for Season 7 (or at least foreshadowing).
Disclaimer: If I owned Buffy, do you think I'd be writing fanfiction?
Feedback: You think I'm going to say no?
Prologue
The window was still broken, pieces of glass sprinkled across the upstairs bedroom, some of them stained with blood. There was a stain on the ground where the bullet wound had bled, but besides that there were no signs that a person had died recently in the room. There was no sign that a girl had cried over her body for hours, pouring out all her pain and frustration in tears. No sign.
The house was empty. The gate was still open from where a murderer had walked in and changed all their lives with a single gun. A single moment. If someone had walked into the house, they would have said that there was a sort of presence that made anyone feel at home. Made you feel relaxed. But currently, there was no one in the house.
The door was shut, but not locked. The doorknob turned and suddenly the door burst open. "Giles!" Dawn yelled at the top of her lungs.
"He might not be back," Buffy entered after Dawn did, closing the door, but not locking it.
"What if he's...?" Dawn didn't finish the sentence for fear that it might come true.
"No, he's not..." Buffy was afraid to say it also. "Anya would have told us if he had... died." She forced herself to say it.
"What about Willow?" Buffy sat down on the couch and folded her hands on her lap.
"She must have remembered or come to her senses," Buffy sat down beside Dawn.
"What if she's dead?" Dawn asked.
"She's not dead," Buffy said.
"How can you be sure?"
Buffy was saved from answering that question when she heard someone cough outside. She went to the door and listened.
"A little help, please!" Anya's voice rang out and Buffy smiled. She opened the door wide and caught Giles as he slipped from Anya's arms.
"Thank you," Giles said quietly.
"I'm just glad you're alright," Buffy said hugging him lightly. She helped him over to the couch and set him down where Dawn immediately hugged him. "Nice to see you, too," he patted her on the back.
"Do you know," Buffy asked him, "what happened with Willow?"
"Xander," Anya said loudly and then a bit quieter "Xander stopped her."
"How?" Buffy sat down beside Dawn.
"It would be better if you asked him that question," Giles said.
"Will he come here?" Dawn asked. "Maybe he'll go to his apartment."
"No," Buffy said. "Right now we have to stay together and help Willow."
Buffy was suddenly alerted to footsteps on the front lawn and when she went over to open the door, she had a sudden feeling that when she opened it, it would be Spike. But when she opened it, she saw Xander and Willow standing huddled together. Willow's face and hair were back to normal and she was shivering as she looked at her feet. "Come on in," Buffy said.
As Willow and Xander came in, Dawn said "I'm gonna go to bed. I need some rest."
"Okay," Buffy said as Dawn walked up the stairs to her room.
As Willow sat down on the couch next to Giles, she opened her mouth in attempt to talk, but then closed it. She opened, then closed it, uncertain of what to say to the people she had tried to kill just hours before.
"I think I need some rest, too," Buffy said and started to walk up the stairs. "Some rest and a shower."
"I'm sorry," Willow blurted out, and then looked down at her feet again.
"It's okay," Buffy said. "You know, I think we all need some rest and relaxation."
"I think you're right," Giles said.
"Yes," Willow whispered under her breath.
Then they all went to get some sleep. Willow refused to go back into her room, so Xander had her stay in Buffy's room and Buffy stayed in Willow's. Buffy gave some blankets to Giles so he could sleep on the couch and she also gave some pillows to Xander, who refused to leave Willow's side. Anya was sitting in a chair, already nodding off to sleep. Buffy noticed that Dawn was already in her bed and asleep, or at least pretending to be asleep.
Buffy went into Willow's room, where so recently had one of her best friends had been shot through the heart and another had turned evil, and fell on the bed. Midst the pillows and blankets, Buffy fell asleep.
And then everyone was asleep. Xander drooled silently on the floor beside Willow who tossed and turned. Anya snorted and snored in her chair, while even Giles drifted off the sleep on the couch.
The occupants of the Summers home were fitfully resting. But they were not going to be relaxing.
